What's new
Starship Kaiyō

Register to start participating in Kaiyō RP! Once signed in, please send a forum DM to Ametheliana or raz to find out about specific openings and characters that are wanted on the starship!

RP: YSS Kaiyō Mission 35: Kishi Kaisei

Guided by Miori's pathfinding, they eventually came upon the first set of targets. They were not waiting around to reclaim their little camp. Part of her preferred to have the opportunity to explore within the structure, but with it already marked for their ship's cannons, she doubted she could have the chance. The other camps would likely be on high alert after this after all.

Sif stuck close to Miori, giving her enough room to maneuver, but close enough to jump in front of any danger. Though when that danger happened to be in the process of piecing together the sight of insurgents within camp grounds, Sif took this time to spring into action.

"Sentry spotted!" she transmitted, looking towards the vigilant scout up high.

She flashed the scout a quick pair of hand signals the NMX used, 'Halt' and 'Quiet' to give the unfortunate scout something to focus on while Sif adjusted her stance and spear. A fraction of a second later, she threw the Elysian spear at the scout, aimed right at the heart and hoping she did not miss. A quick death was the only thing she could offer right now.

In the moment, it was the most she could do while attempting to keep a low profile, as alerting them too early might mean more work rounding up the stragglers.
 
Asuka took particular note of the safe distance, or at least the relatively safe distance, from the depot. One could always quibble about the precise spot to target and circular error probable, but to be sure she did not wish to split hairs and get carelessly vaporized.

This last thought lingered a bit, as she listened to their orders. Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly at being robbed of the opportunity to destroy the depot personally, but surely there would be other ones. For now, she voiced her understanding to Molli. Her accent was absolutely fascinating, but she'd have to ask about it later. "I'll do my best," she promised, with a nod not visible from outside her helmet. There were an awful lot of trees, to be sure, but she gave Molli a thumbs up anyway, even as she readied her own weapon. "We didn't come all this way to run into the scenery, right?" A last check of her suit's systems, and she prepared to set off after Molli as quietly as she could in equipment not exactly optimised for stealth.
 
Miori held up with Ignemar-Hei when the enemies were spotted. She gritted her teeth at the idea of using her rifle so early. The noise of the weapon would give their position away immediately. However, the location of the scouts in the trees prevented her from being able to reach them quick enough with her katana. In the moment Ignemar-Hei launched her quiet spear at the scouts, Miori decided to aim her rifle at the second further scout. If the spear attack ended up being too loud or failed to kill immediately she would pull the trigger. Having seen it in action before she trusted that it could take out the both of the scouts, but it was better to plan for failure. Miori, maintaining her scope on the target, trusted the others to be able to take out the on coming vehicle, the relative location of which she set to constantly update the squad on based on her audio sensors picking out its engines particular frequency.
 
William looked up from the forest floor as the rest of the crew made their entry. With everyone pairing up, he waited for Aiko to land. As she did, his massive frame moved next to her's, following her and the team towards their first target.

As they approached, he hung back with Aiko, his armor not the most stealthy. "Where do you want me? QRF once the shooting starts?" He asked on a private channel the two shared.
 
"Hang back, and be prepared to relieve the others should the enemy attempt to overwhelm us," Aiko replied to her Nepleslian counterpart, confirming he should remain in reserve at the start. "Our larger armors should be able to handle any massed resistance. For now: keep your range. Though I am sure you will whichever fight you desire in short order."

Captain Hoshi's command was clear. They had to contain any bogeys not caught in the Kaiyō's wrath. With that primary directive in mind, and Sif's contact alert shouted over the squad's comms, Aiko focused in on the sound of engines rumbling in from the east. The princess focused her Kirie's sensors in that direction, and the suit's CIES returned an analysis that matched the enemy machinery's sonic frequency.

The vehicle was identified with high likelihood as a Type 31 NMX Cargo Truck, or perhaps a smaller Battle Buggy. Either way, it would certainly be outside of her Fuji-class' airstrike and carrying some of what they'd been sent to destroy, and was equipped with an auto-turret that could easily mulch a Mindy if permitted a target. So Aiko locked onto where her Immersion System calculated the Mishhu truck was traveling, constantly triangulating its position relative to her own, and then fired. Three lancing strikes flashed out from her 50mm Gauss Cannon in rapid succession and sliced through the forest — as well as whatever else lay between her and her mark — in silence at first before their sonic boom broke the woodland peace with a cracking bark.

"As Hoshi-taisa suggested, however," Aiko added, chirping in William's ear again after she'd fired. "Try not to cut down prospective prisoners. NMX Nekovalkyrja tend to appreciate our way of life when given the chance."
 
The scout in the trees didn't immediately register why a Mindy was issuing actionable orders to them. Though they were snapping their sight lines on Miori, their hesitance meant that Sif's spear connected before the scout could shoot her shot.

With the vehicle roar replaced with the gauss cannon's strikes, the quietude seemed to be replaced with a residual hum as if the entropy from the initial bursts of weapon fire were soaking into the forest. The off road truck had been taken care of, far enough away from the old storage facility that it wouldn't have been hit by the Kaiyō but close enough that Aiko could pinpoint its location and make quick, if not quiet, work of it.

But there was a second scout, too, that had been alerted milliseconds after the first. Thankfully, Miori's aim was near true enough and her shot clipped the shoulder of the scout. They were readying to take another shot, but didn't get the chance.

There had been good reason that Hoshi had asked the team to keep a distance from the depot. A shock of aether dealt forth from the ship far overhead and in a raucous blast, the grey archway was detonated and the once-bustling little pocket of the forest was split apart. The stoney rubble had been launched, but that was all that remained. Mammoth trees were split apart and their inner, pale timber split and frayed like a doll whose hair had been haphazardly brushed. Even the dirt smoldered where NMX Neko had once been.

Hoshi's helmet lowered momentarily as she looked down malcontentedly. It looked as if she were studying her Mindy's feet before she raised up, flying above the treeline, and her tone was conversely unflappable and resolute.

"Next target is a short distance of two thousand meters ahead of us. Lead us there." It was said to nobody in particular, but then the captain looked to the crimson and green mechs. "Ketsurui-chusa and William-dono, scout ahead and find us even more enemy strongholds before they can embed themselves in these peaceful Poku's land."
 
"What's everyone standing around for? The enemy is embedding as we wait!" Hoshi barked into comms, tone clipped and hot-tempered while nobody seemed to take her orders. "Take point, Sif. Molli, stay ranged. New recruits, with them. Chusa, Captain- head out to scout new locations or I will for you!"
 
William nodded and scanned the area. Activating his thrusters, he began skating along the ground, his massive armor battering the foliage away as he moved. "Aiko, inverted V formation?" He suggested, already moving to the left forward position as he charged ahead, claws flashing as he sliced through the thicker vegetation in his way.
 
Molli internally disregarded her captain's admonishment as a product of stress -- after all, it couldn't have been more than a minute since she issued the order. By the same token, she scoffed at the notion of taking POWs, which was far from her thoughts in the midst of a life or death battle. If the enemy surrendered, maybe, but Molli wasn't in the mood to risk her life for a brainwashed NMX these days -- not after the assignment in Cauldron Lake. "Kill th' enemy, but donnae kill 'em too much. Makes sense," she chirped over comms, before floating into the air and advancing by kicking from tree trunk to tree trunk. "Rook, wiv me -- high 'n dry."
 
A sinking pit appeared in Sif's core after using her little trick to get the jump on the scout, digging up a few precious memories and glimpses of a life not lived. It was a short show at the back of her mind, ending when she plucked her spear from the scout's corpse. As the echoes of the aether strike faded from her ears, she could hear the gentle hum of her own thrusters as she heeded the captain's call and took to the front of a loose formation flying just above the treetops, setting her sights on the next target.

"Tsukiki-Hei, stay close to me," Sif said softly as she accelerated towards the next site. "Here's my plan," she added, broadcasting it to the whole team. "They would have heard that explosion, so they'll be on alert. Tsukiki-Hei and I will overshoot the site and try to hold their attention long enough for the precision strike. We'll keep ourselves just out of harm's way. If things go accordingly, their backs should be turned to the rest of you. We'll take the high ground if they built their outpost into another cliff face."
 
Miori had gone to check the condition of the scout, whom Miori had intended to give a quick death to but had missed a vital area with her shot. However, the aetheric explosion had finished off her target. She didn't quite know how to feel about that. Her relief at making the right call of keeping a bead on them in case the spear couldn't take them both out pumped through her veins; but, she couldn't help but feel a deep remorse for the old growth trees that were destroyed because of the ship's attack.

Miori was sifting through her feelings quietly as she followed Ignemar-Hei into the sky. Her audio sensors still on high settings causing her to hear the groans of the trees still settling from the damage they took from the explosion. She reflected that it was a good thing the auto filters had prevented causing her to hear an amplified explosion which could have damaged her hearing. Though that reflection inevitably caused her to think of the vision of the dead NMX neko. At the temple there hadn't been enough downtime to consider the deaths of enemies as anything other than a cause of celebration. Now however, the empty eyes of the torn apart neko scout haunted her. She wondered if the enemy would ever consider her the same way she was now considering them.

Miori took a deep breath and pushed these thoughts down. She told herself that now wasn't the time, she could consider these darker thoughts later. Right now she had a job to do.
 
Okay, mental note, CO doesn't like to sit around. This was fine with Asuka, to be sure, but she hadn't run into anyone quite so... enthusiastic... about it since her earliest training days. Much more important, she perked as she now rated the title of rook. It was an improvement over 'hey you!' to be sure. She nodded, doing her best to keep up with her own suit's inertial redirection. The DAISY wasn't exactly built for speed, but she managed to keep station somewhat behind and to Molli's right quarter, keeping a constant scan for potential targets.

As she did, she spared a glance at what was left of the depot. OK, maybe the uchuugun know a thing or two about blowing things up. Still would have liked explosives. "Ah, is now a good time to admit I didn't bring anything to secure prisoners with?" she asked Molli, as she gradually nudged her suit a bit higher, darting in and out of the tree branches to gain as much camouflage as she could, constantly scanning the forest floor for hostiles.
 
"If y'wound 'em, 'n they don' shoot us, s'good 'nough," replied Molli, keeping her shotgun leveled and at the ready for that two thousand meter target if she sighted it first. "POWs is kinna've ah...bonus, not m'focus," Molli stopped short of adding "and it shouldn't be yours," out of hesitation for influencing the rookie soldier's opinion. If Molli sighted the sentry, she was taking a shot -- center of mass.
 
"Good plan, Sif-hei." Praise had been etched into those few short words by Hoshi like sweet frosting on a small berry.

Tunnel-visioned and sights on this upcoming base's own scout, Molli shot into their center of mass with deadly precision. They fell from the tree they had propped up in and before their body had hit the ground, a spew of scattered plasma wailed out. Coming from some hidden turrets, pellets fragmented and split off from the round as they were enhanced with guidannce to find their targets. All of their Mindy and Daisy were clipped.

"Was a good plan. Find tree cover," Hoshi ordered as she flew below the canopy of trees. "Peaches, take Cream and find those turrets. I'm behind you, Shield Maiden! Overshoot annd draw any ground-based fire. I'll nab base coordinates while you two do that."

Though Molli's callsign wasn't "Peaches" and Sif's wasn't "Shield Maiden", the former would know it was a play on the nickname William had given her while the latter's custom mecha she had operated was bequeathed such a name. There was no telling why Miori had been dispensed hers—perhaps it was because of her milky hair.

Where William and Aiko flew was idyllic and tranquil. Hardly a sign of the war or bases as they cruised along a cliff-carved coastline. There had been aged reports of waterfront installations that they could no doubt find on this coast.
 
The impact of guided turret fire pushed Molli back into a tree hard enough to splinter branches and shred bark, and the Neplesian cursed loudly. The damage wasn't major by any means, but Molli was quick to notice where the bullets were flying from, duck into cover from behind another tree, and then another once it was also shredded to pieces. Of course there were traps, why would it have been that easy?

Hoshi's orders came in over comms, a plan that Molli would've seized on in lieu of guidance, issued with a nickname that made the Nepleslian roll her eyes. "'Least it ent 'Momo,' ah hate that one..." Molli promptly spoke into her comm afterwards, "Copy," she replied, before flying out from the third tree whose trunk was chunked into pieces from enemy bullets. With her many kalamari suit extension, Molli's mindy shot through the treeline like an armored monkey, as she reasoned that minimizing her profile by reducing aether wing power could prevent any more scouts from getting a bead on her. Whether that was true or not, the turrets still retained their lock, and guided bullets clipped Molli's armor as her cybernetic eyes scanned their paths.

"Over there!" Molli barked, her shotgun's retort cutting an azure path that burned through the foliage towards the location of the turrets. One of her kalamari arms seized the pistol at her thigh and leveled it high for more firepower, joining its bulkier sister in raining hot death upon the NMX machinery.
 
Last edited:
Asuka's mind raced with questions related to fruits, but enemy fire had a way of centering one's thoughts. She dove down and to her right, putting as much lumber as possible between herself and the turrets, though given how spliters and slightly smoking branches rattled off her suit, this was of dubious use. Some of the turret's fire still got through, and she raced after Molli, her back prickling with imagined awareness of turrets to every side.

She spotted the target a millisecond after Molli, and her rifle was already raising up to take aim even as the call came. "I see it!" Short, sharp, aimed bursts as she fired, only part of her upper body poking out from behind a particularly large tree, her knee sinking into the soft moss surrounding the trunk as she readied a grenade to lob if it seemed their gunfire wasn't doing the trick.
 
The rounds that slammed into Miori sent her flight into a spin. The DAISY's flight system not having the time to correct before she slammed through several large tree branches. Fortunately Miori managed to use her shield to take the brunt of much of the impacts. She managed to stop her fall by holding on to and sliding down a trunk of a particularly large tree. "This is why I leave the flying to mom." She grumbled to herself as she got her bearings using the fact that her audio system's tracking had logged the source of the gun fire. Of course audio tracking was terrible for reactive actions due to the supersonic speeds of the bullets, though at least she knew where she got shot from.

When her Taisa's orders came out, Miori initially started to move towards Ignemar-Hei to help with the distraction. That was until her suit updated the FoF tag with Cream as her newly appointed Callsign. Miori's military discipline took over and she turned towards the source of the gunfire and jumped down to the ground and began to zig zag her way through the underbrush at high speed. However, she was very confused by the new moniker. Miori felt that Uehara-Hei, with her pale skin and blond hair, better matched the name than she did. Growing up many of her first-born sisters gave her nicknames like Strawberry, Ichigo, or Fox. All of which referred to her crimson skin, the color of which Miori had subconsciously chosen when she watched her first sunset on Ryu-tochi. She loves her appearance even if it is a slightly uncommon choice among her peers. That all flashed through her mind as she darted between trees and she decided to ask her Taisa later why her Callsign had been chosen.

Miori's mind was brought back to the present by the sounds of Byrne-Hei's gunfire followed swiftly by the retorts of Uehara-Hei's rifle both coming from Miori's front right side. Miori telepathically updated both of them on her location and her plan to go left and go for a pincer maneuver on the turret. Miori then cut left, keeping as many trees as possible between herself and the turret before finding a suitable location to begin launching the crossfire attack on the turret.
 
She was right about one thing, the base was indeed on high alert. The damage was spread around her limbs, with her shield protecting the vital areas. She'd have to ask for a bigger shield next time.

Unsure of how the plasma fire was being directed, she elected to go higher, sticking to her role of being the main target by being the most visible. When the orders came to carry out her initial plan, she put her thrusters to full power and shot right to the back of the enemy base, her landing kicking up a good bit of dirt. On her way down, she tagged every hostile she could see, not just for the others' benefit, but for her own reference as well as she picked the closest one to thruster charge into, slamming her shield against them with enough force to send them flying back.

What better way to attract attention than to cause chaos within the base perimeter? Using her suit to amplify her voice, she called out the challenge. "Face me, sisters! Earn your place in the halls of Valhalla!" Thanks to the Mindy, she was able to zip through the outer edges of the base, looking for targets to engage outside of vaporization range. Handy spear in hand, she drove it through less vital areas when she could, simply to take the enemy out of commission. Being the last base they needed to engage, at least to her knowledge, she was a bit more free to leave some alive for capture.
 
As the two massive armors glided along the coast, William brought up his tactical map. "Nothing up ahead on the scopes. Supposed to be some installations around here. But the team's taking fire. Make the call Aiko. Forward to those installations or come about to catch the enemy in a pincer formation?" He asked, slowing down just a bit, giving the princess's an extra second or two to make her choice.
 
Palpably knocked about from the first onslaught of turret fire, the counterattack from the Kaiyō team was calculated and controlled. The enemy's weapons trails led Molli, swinging through the canopy, straight to them. Miori flanked, closing around the turret like the other side of a crab's claw. The turret focused Molli then spun wildly in the opposite direction as it got a bead on and tracked Miori. It didn't have much of a chance to shoot at the Rikugun soldier as the two of them shot into it, at first ripping into the outer armor then breaking down the inner machinations as Asuka's Firepower was added to the bombardment.

Coordinated and fueled by the need to raise enemy suspicions to her, Sif goaded the enemy formation as she shot at the rear of the base. This one had a few more preparations than the last. Turrets like the one they had just shot down were set up on either side of the upside down U shaped entrance that too was built into a hill. Enemy Neko spilled out from the entrance and seemed to be nowhere else on the landscape, having relied on the automated weapons and dead sentries while they were inside the base.

Hoshi noticed that the teams had shifted and now Asuka should follow Sif's lead. She knew that a moniker for Asuka would go a long way, but all that came to mind for a temporary call sign was one that matched Sif just as Miori's matched Molli's. Something like "Buckler" wouldn't do, though, and so she set the task aside for the time being.

"Uehara-hei, shadow Sif next go!" Hoshi clarified.

As she drew nearer, Hoshi's armor took even more hits from those turrets, but she pulled back and out of the line of fire.

"I've got coordinates, prepare to—" She was about to order them to pull out of the scope of demolition again. But there was a twinge of regret for the captain as she realized the twin turrets meant capturing any NMX Neko that Sif had marked would be made impossible. She turned her back on the base momentarily, then spun back around and pointed to it mid-air.

"Belay that order. Peaches 'n' Cream, twin pincer on the eastern turret as you did before. Sif and Uehara, hold enemy fire coming from the ground while I work on the western one!" There was a revitalized tenacity to her tone as she added, "Kaiyō, prepare to take up prisoners before dismantling the base!"
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top